Orthodontic appliance



Jan. 28, 1964 F. R. MILLER ETAL ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1Filed April 25, 1961 www..

Jan. 28, 1964 F. R. MILLER ETAL 3,119,182

oRTHoDoNTIc APPLIANCE Filed April 25, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent Oiitice 3,ll9,l82 Patented Jan. 28, 1964 fornia Filed Apr.25, 196i, Ser. No. 105,361 4 Claims. (CI. 32-14) The present inventionrelates generally to an improved orthodontic appliance, and it relatesmore particularly to an improved buccal tube which is intended to befastened to a tooth band, or directly to a tooth, to provide anattachment for an arch wire, or similar member, used in orthodontictreatment.

As is well known, the buccal arch is employed in accordance withorthodontic practice on the exterior or buccal side of the patientsteeth. The buccal arch usually comprises a spring wire which is curvedto conform approximately to the normal dental arch of the patient. Theends of the buccal arch wire are fastened to buccal tubes, which, inturn, are welded or soldered to tooth bands which surround selectedmolars of the patient and which serve as terminals of the arch wires.One or more oi the intermediate portions of the arch wire may beattached to intermediate teeth.

The buccal arch spring wire is secured to the anchoring molars in thefollowing manner. First, a tooth band is positioned on each of theselected molars. A buccal tube is then soldered, or otherwise attached,to each of the tooth bands on the buccal side of the dental arch of thepatient. These tubes receive the ends of the buccal arch spring wires,as mentioned above, and they serve to support the arch wires on theanchoring molars.

The buccal arch described brieiiy in the preceding paragraphs is used inorthodontic treatment for straightening teeth in either the lower orupper dental arches of the patient, or both.

The present invention, as noted above, is concerned particularly withthe mounting tubes which are used to support the ends of the arch wireson the molars. These tubes have been referred to above, and will bereferred to subsequently herein, as buccal tubes to distinguish themfrom similar tubes which are used on the inner or lingual side of thedental arch.

One of the types of buccal tubes to be described herein is constructedto include a body portion which is formed of sheet metal, and which isadapted to receive and accommodate a variety of diiierent inserts. Theseinserts dene passageways with the body portion of the tube, and thesepassageways receive the ends of the arch wires. By utilizing differentsizes of inserts with a single body portion, a large variety of sizesand shapes of arch wires may be accommodated by a buccal tubeconstructed in accordance with one of the embodiments of the invention.

It has been usual in the art to mount buccal tubes on the tooth bandsencircling the molars, and then to bend the ends of the arch wires toalign the ends with the passageways in the buccal tubes. This bending ofthe arch wires, although considered essential in the prior art, addsmaterially to the difficulty of itting the orthodontic correctiveequipment into the mouth of the patient.

The buccal tubes constructed in accordance with the present invention inone of its aspects are conceived and constructed in such a manner thatthere is no need to bend the arch wire, as is the case with the priorart buccal tubes, in order to enable the ends of the arch wire to beinserted into the passageways of the buccal tubes.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide animproved buccal tube which is conceived to facilitate to a large extentthe litting of orthodontic equipment into the mouth of a patient.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an improved buccaltube which is constructed and congured to permit the end of the archwire to be inserted directly into it without the need for bending thewire when the tube is mounted on an anchoring molar.

The appliance of the invention in one of its embodiments to be describedcomprises a single piece of sheet metal formed into a tubularconfiguration, and an insert which is adapted to iit into the tubularsheet metal body portion to provide at least one longitudinal Wirereceiving passage in the resulting buccal tube assembly. This passage isopen at its ends so as to permit the passage of the end arch wirethrough it. A portion of the sheet metal forms the mounting wall of thebuccal tube assembly, and this wall is adapted to lie against and to besoldered or welded to the tooth band on which the buccal tube is to bemounted. Mounting tabs may be provided at each end of the buccal tubeassembly to lie in an essentially common plane with the mounting wall,as will be described, and these tabs may be bent to conform to thecurved surface of the tooth band. The insert and body portion of thebuccal tube of the present invention, in the embodiment to be described,are so formed that the wire receiving passage deiined thereby isinclined with respect to the mounting wall.

The sheet metal from which the body portion of the buccal tube of theabove mentioned embodiment of the invention is made may be relativelythin, but sturdy and bendable so that it may be formed into the desiredconfiguration. T he tooth band on which the buccal tube assembly ismounted is usually formed, for example, of soit stainless steel. Thebody portion of the buccal tube assembly of the above mentionedembodiment of the present invention may be formed, for example, ofrelatively hard stainless steel of the order of l2 mils thickness, andthe tooth band may be of the order of 6 mils thickness.

The features of the invention which are believed to be new are set forthwith particularity in the claims. The invention itself, however, may bebest understood by considering the following description, when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view of the upper dental arch of a patient, andof a buccal arch and face bow arch assembly tted onto the upper dentalarch for orthodontic treatment;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic showing of a portion of the upper dentaal archof a patient, and the manner in which a combination buccal tubeconstructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention may besupported on an anchoring molar to receive the ends of the arch wires;

FIGURE 3 is a view, similar to FIGURE 2, but showing a portion of thelower dental arch of the patient, and the manner in which a buccal tubeconstructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention maybe used;

FIGURE 4a is an enlarged perspective disassembled View of an uppercombination buccal tube constructed in accordance with a firstembodiment of the invention; this view showing the body portion of thebuccal tube and an insert which is received in the body portion;

FIGURE 4b is an enlarged perspective view of the buccal tube of FIGURE4a assembled and fastened to the tooth band of an anchoring molar;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a lower buccal tubeconstructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a top View of the tube of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a side View of the tube of FIGURE 5;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are cross-sectional views of the tube of FIGURE 5 takenalong the lines S-S and 9 9, respectively;

FIGURE 10 is an end view of the tube tube of FIG- URE and FIGURE 11illustrates an integral piece of sheet metal from which the tubel ofFIGURE 5 may be formed.

The assembly of FIGURE 1 is mounted on the upper dental arch of thepatient, and as noted above, the view is taken looking up at the upperjaw. The assembly of FIG- URE 1, in addition to incorporating an innerbuccal arch wire 10, includes a face bow inner arch wire 12. The ends ofboth the buccal arch wire and the face bow inner arch wire are supportedin combination buccal tubes 14 which are constructed in accordance withone of the embodiments of the invention. As best shown in FIGURE 4b,each buccal tube 14 is soldered or welded, as at 16, to a tooth band 18.

The tooth bands 18 surround the selected niolars of the patient. Theends of the buccal arch wire extend into the buccal tubes 14 and areanchored therein. The anchoring of the arch wires 10 in the buccal tubes14 may be in accordance with usual orthodontic techniques. At least oneintermediate portion of the arch wire 1t) is locked to a tooth, such asthe tooth 20, of the patient. This tooth is to be straightened inaccordance with usual orthodontic practice, by the buccal arch and bythe face bow arch.

The inner face bow arch wire 12 is securely attached,

as at 22, to an outer face bow arch 24. A neck strap 26 extends aroundthe head of the patient, and the neck strap is attached to the outerface bow arch through suitable resilient couplers, such as springs 28. AThe inner face bow arch 12 is removable from the buccal arch tubes 14,and the entire face bow assembly can be removed by the patient. Suitablestops (not shown) are mounted on the inner face bow arch 12, and Athesestops bear against the buccal tubes 14 to exert the desired force on thebuccal tubes 14, when the face bow assembly is in place.

In accordance with the concepts of the present invention, and asmentioned above, the buccal tubes 14 are so constructed that thepassageways which receive the arch wires 10 and 12 extend at amesial-distal or rotation angle to the respective tooth bands 18 towhich the buccal tubes are attached. This mesial-distal or rotationangle is chosen so that the arch wires 1t) and 12 can be inserted'without any need to provide a sharp bend therein which was previouslyrequired to align the ends of the arch wires with the passageways in theprior art buccal tubes; and in fact without any need to provide any bendwhatever in the arch wires.

The angle referred to in the preceding paragraph, and

to be referred to hereinafter, as the rotation or mesialdistal angle, isdefined by axes lying in the plane of the paper in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3.This angle is not to be confused with tip-back angles or torque anglesformed by axes lying in other planes.

The feature of the invention described in the preceding paragraph notonly facilitates the orthodontic fitting of the buccal arch 10, but alsopermits the face bow assembly to function with greater precision thanwas possible in the prior art arrangements. This latter feature isrealized, because the prior art face bows did not provide optimum forceangles with respect to the arch wire l1f).

The fragmentary View of FIGURE 2 illustrates the mean inesial-distal orrotation angle at which the arch wires 10 and 12 are received in thebuccal tube 14 with respect to the adjacent buccal surface of the toothband 1S on the corresponding molar. This view is of the upper jaw of thepatient, as noted above, and the usual jaw mesial-distal or rotationangle for most patients has been found to be of the order of 10 degrees,as shown. However, upper jaw mesial-distal or rotation angles in therange of substantially from 8 degrees to 20 degrees are desirable inconjunction with the upper jaws of difierent patients, for optimumoperating efficiency.

The fragmentary view of FIGURE 3 shows the angles which the arch wires10 is received in a buccal tube 15 with respect to the adjacent buccalsurface of the tooth band 18 on the corresponding molar, the latter viewbeing of the lower jaw of the patient. For most patients, the optimumlower rotation angle has been found to be of the order of 5 degrees, asillustrated. However, the lower rotation angles in the range ofsubstantially from 3 degrees to 12 degrees are usually encountered fordifferent patients for optimum effects.

IThe construction of the upper combination buccal tube 14 in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGURES 4a and 4b. Thisparticular tube is a right hand unit, and is intended to be mounted onthe right hand side of the patients upper jaw. It is evident, of course,that the -left hand unit may be similar in its construction to thatillustrated in FIGURES 4a and 4b, and will complement the illustratedunit.

The combination upper jaw buccal tube 14 of FIG- URES 4a and 4b includesa clip-like body portion 13 which may be formed, as noted above, ofsheet metal. The sheet metal body portion 13 has a first surface which4forms the mounting wall 30 of the tube, and a plurality of tabs 32 areformed integral with the mounting wall 30. The tabs 32 and the mountingwall 30 of the body portion 13 are configured to conform with thesurface of the tooth band v10 to which the buccal tube is to beattached, as by welding or soldering, as described above in conjunctionwith FIGURE 4b.

The sheet metal forming the body portion 13 of the buccal tube 1'4 isbent over into a clip-like configuration to define, in the illustratedembodiment of FIGURES 4a and 4b, two walls of a rectangular passage anda semicircular portion of the wall of a circular passage. The bent-overbody portion of the buccal tube is shaped so that the walls of thesepassages extend at a selected longitudinal inclination to the rear wall,so that the passages themselves may have a desired rotation-angleinclination, for the purposes described above.

The body portion 13 of the buccal tube |14 may, for example, have auniform size for a wide variety of applications, and it is adapted toreceive one of a plurality of inserts 40. The inserts 40 may havedifferent sizes to form different sized passa-ges in conjunction withthe body portion `13. The insert 4G, as illustrated particularly inFIGURE 4a has a wedge-shaped configuration, and it serves to completethe definition of the inclined passages in the body portion 13, as shownin FIGURE 4b. The insert 40 is usually inserted into the body portion 13in essentially coaxial relationship therewith, and it is soldered orwelded to the body portion to hold it in place.

When the body portion 13 and the insert 40 are assembled in the mannershown in FIGURE 4b, the resulting combination buccal tube assemblydefines passageways which are inclined to its mounting wall 30 and tothe buccal surface yof the tooth band l1S to which it is attached. Theinclinations :of the passageways define selected angles for the upperjaw, as mentioned above in conjunction with FIGURE 2.

The lower buccal tube -15 of FIGURE 3 may be formed of one integralpiece of sheet metal 30 (FIGURE 11), and it may have the configurationshown in FIGURES 5-10.

The passageway in the lower buccal tube '15 as noted above, is usuallyconstructed to define a rotation angle of the order of 5 degrees withthe Abuccal side of the tooth to which it is attached. The illustratedunit defines a rectangular passageway to receive the lower buccal archwire.

The lower jaw buccal tube of FIGURE 5 includes a pair of strips S0 and52 which are integral with the body portion 54, as shown, and which arebent to conform with the tooth or tooth band to which the tube isattached. The body portion 54 has the illustrated shape to define thewalls of the rectangular passageway which receives the ends of the lowerbuccal arch wire. This passageway, as illustrated and as mentionedabove, extends at a preselected rotation angle to the side of the toothto which the tube is attached. The tube 15 may be attached to a toothband by Welding or soldering the stnips 50 and 52 to the band. A distalextension or hook, as indicated in FIGURES and 7, is provided at theforward end of the body portion 54. This hook is conven-ient for use bythe orthodontist for elastics, coil springs, tie Wires, and the like. Asimilar hook is shown in the forward end of the wall of the buccal tube14 in FIGURE 4a.

The buccal tube assemblies of the invention may be fitted to differentpatients in such a manner that the arch Wires may be inserted thereinWithout any need to bend the ends of the arch Wires. This, as mentionedabove, facilita-tes to a large extent the ease with which ltheorthodontic equipment can be fitted to the jaW of the patient and alsolrenders the face bow assembly which may be used in conjunction lwith thebuccal arch, more efficient.

The invention provides, therefore, an improved buccal tube assembly foruse in orthodontic practice which is constructed in an improved andunique manner so as to facilitate the fitting of the yorthodonticequipment and to render the operation thereof more efficient.

What is claimed is:

l. An orthodontic appliance including: a body portion having a tubularconfiguration and defining a mounting wall and lfurther defining anopposite Wall having a longitudinally inclined relationship with saidmounting wall, and a Wedge-shaped insert member received in said bodyportion, said member having a recessed surface to define therewith atleast one arch Wire receiving passage through said body portion, saidpassage having an `axis inclined at an angle in a plane through bothsaid walls.

2. An orthodontic appliance to be mounted on the surface of a tooth bandincluding: a body portion formed of sheet metal having an open endedtubular configuration and defining a mounting wall adapted to face thesurface of the tooth band on which the appliance is to be mounted andfurther defining mounting tabs in essentially co-planar relationshipWith the mounting wall and to be attached to the surface of the toothband and further defining an opposite wall having a longitudinallymesialdistal incl-ined relationship with `said mounting wall, and awedge-shaped insert portion supported in and by said body portion insubstantially coaxial relationship therewith and defining with said bodyportion at least one arch wire receiv-ing passage having an axisinclined at a rotation angle to intersect the plane of said mountingwall,

3. An orthodontic appliance adapted to be mounted on the buccal suifaceof a tooth band including: a body portion formed of sheet metal havinfran open-ended tubular configuration and defining a mounting Wall adaptedto face the surface ofthe tooth band on which the appliance is to bemounted and further defining mounting tabs in essentially co-planarrelationship with the mounting Wall and :to be attached tothe surface ofthe tooth band and further defining an opposite Wall having amesial-distal inclined relationship with said mounting Wall, said bodyportion defining at least one substantially fully enclosed andsymmetrical arch Wire receiving passage inclined at a rotation anglewith respect to said mounting Wall, such that the axis of said passagewill interset the plane of said mounting Wall.

4. An orthodontic appliance comprising: a bracket having side mountingmeans lying in a plane and adapted for attachment to a tooth band; saidbracket formed with internal Wall Asurfaces defining a substantiallyfuliy enclosed and `symmetrical socket; said socket having alongitudinal axis spaced from said plane and having an orientation suchthat extension thereof would intersect said plane of said mountingmeans; a removable insert residing in said socket, said insert having atleast one Wall recess adapted jointly with said internal wall surfacesof said socket to define a through wire receiving passageway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS804,200 Barnes Nov. 14, 1905 986,076 Montag Mar. 7, 191-1 1,008,663Montaque Nov. 14, 111911 1,044,764 Federspiel Nov. 19, 11912 1,481,861Eaton Jan. 29, l192'4 1,976,141 Richardson Oct. 9, 11934 2,045,025Richardson I une 23, 1936 2,236,042 Terwilliger Mar. 25, A1941 2,267,073Boyd Dee. 2.3, 1941 3,076,265 Moore lFeb. 5, ill963 FOREIGN PATENTS136,435 Australia Oct. 9, 1947 OTHER REFERENCES Orthodontists Researchand Manufacturing Corp., Catalog No. 1 of January 1961 (page 5 reliedupon). (Copy in Div. in 32/14.)

1. AN ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE INCLUDING: A BODY PORTION HAVING A TUBULARCONFIGURATION AND DEFINING A MOUNTING WALL AND FURTHER DEFINING ANOPPOSITE WALL HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY INCLINED RELATIONSHIP WITH SAIDMOUNTING WALL, AND A WEDGE-SHAPED INSERT MEMBER RECEIVED IN SAID BODYPORTION, SAID MEMBER HAVING A RECESSED SURFACE TO DEFINE THEREWITH ATLEAST ONE ARCH WIRE RECEIVING PASSAGE THROUGH